A poll conducted for the campaign of California state Sen. Alan Lowenthal found the Democrat ahead of his Republican opponent by 20 points in the race for the newly drawn 47th district.

According to the Goodwin Simon Strategic Research polling memo, Lowenthal led Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong, 51 percent to 31 percent. President Barack Obama led Republican nominee Mitt Romney 56 percent to 35 percent in the district.

The poll of 400 likely voters in the Long Beach- and Orange County-based district was conducted Aug. 16-19. The margin of error was 5 points.

A poll conducted for DeLong in early July had him within 3 points of Lowenthal and an automated

conducted for DeLong in early July had him within 3 points of Lowenthal and an automated poll conducted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee a couple of weeks later had Lowenthal up 11 points.